Consumers counting on cruising the great rivers of the Pacific Northwest might need to look elsewhere: Great American Journeys is having big American problems.
The Seattle-based company, which hoped to operate river cruises for the third straight season, furloughed most of its staff before Christmas, disconnected its Vancouver phone number, and cancelled its cruise schedule through the end of this month. Well into the new year, its telephone reservations line carried a "closed for the holidays" recording.
Perhaps the beginning of the end for Great American was the October 2005 resignation of founding president and chief marketing officer Michael Lomax.
But the most telling blow came when Donald J. Simplot, one of Great American's founding partners, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy early last month.
Simplot, son of Idaho potato magnate J.R. Simplot, was in partnership with Douglas Toms of Olympia, WA. Toms had previously stated that the company was negotiating with creditors and awaiting new financing while hoping to operate as planned in 2006.
Another Toms-Simplot venture, Glacier Bay Cruiseline, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October.
Great American Journeys began offering luxury cruises last year aboard the Columbia Queen, purchased from the Delta Queen Steamboat Co. after that line encountered financial problems in 2004. Both lines offered cruises along the Columbia, Snake, and Williamette rivers, stopping in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.
Whether any operate in 2006 is very much in doubt. The Columbia Queen remains docked at its winter terminal in Troutdale, OR though it is usually moored during the season in Vancouver, WA.
According to Jerome Shulkin, the Seattle-based attorney for Donald Simplot, the bankruptcy filing was meant to freeze lawsuits by people who had loaned him money for investment purposes. Those lawsuits listed Simplot as the debt guarantor.
Complicating its problems, Great American Journeys no longer has travel insurance coverage. Travelex Insurance Services has placed the firm on a list of firms it no longer covers.
